Whilst Mercedes have only featured in one episode for the last two seasons, and Verstappen has elected to not to take part in the new series due to what he believes are the “fake” storylines created, Red Bull team boss Christian Horner and others including Haas team principal Guenther Steiner and McLaren driver Ricciardo have rarely found themselves short on comment in previous series, so there should still be ample insight into what many believe to be F1’s greatest ever title fight.
Many have credited DtS, combined with the thrilling 2021 season, as the main reason for F1’s huge increase in popularity recently, particularly in America. The US GP this year hosted the highest attendance ever for a world championship race, with 400,000 coming through the gate across the weekend, and this was widely credited to the ‘Netflix effect’.
“I think it’s got to be the single most important impact for Formula 1 in North America,” McLaren boss Zak Brown said last year. “Almost every comment you get from someone out of the US, they reference ‘Drive to Survive.’
Season 3 revealed such story lines as Valtteri Bottas feeling like he wanted to retire after being told by Mercedes to let his team-mate Lewis Hamilton win, the implosion of Sebastian Vettel/Ferrari relationship and examined the redemption of Pierre Gasly after his shock 2020 Italian GP win – so expect drama to be played on on screens big and small when Season 4 arrives.